Curious tale of two HR tech unicorns, alleged espionage, and claims of a spy hiding in a bathroom

Rival HR technology unicorns are at each other's throats in a courtroom brawl over alleged corporate espionage.

The People Center, also known as Rippling, on Monday sued rival workforce management firm Deel for alleged theft of trade secrets and corporate espionage.

Both companies are Delaware corporations operating out of San Francisco, California. Deel offers SaaSy global payroll services; Rippling offers a competing service among a broader suite of HR apps. Each startup is valued at $12-14 billion, making them so-called unicorns.

Rippling's federal-level lawsuit [PDF], brought in the US West Coast city, claims Deel recruited a Rippling employee - identified only as D.S. – as a spy to steal confidential information.

D.S., who lived in Ireland, joined Rippling in June 2023 as a global payroll compliance manager, and was given access to Rippling's internal HR systems, plus its Slack workspace, and Salesforce and Google Drive accounts, it ...